Long Way To Go

I have just tried to mould a team and create an environment where we all sing off the same hymn sheet"

Dean Saunders

Wolves boss Dean Saunders insists no one will be getting carried away by the recent upturn in results – as the team remain in the bottom three ahead of a tough away double at Birmingham and Bolton.

Wolves are sixth in the current form table of the last six games and have won three of their last four but tomorrow tackle a Blues side who sit second in that ‘table’ followed by Saturday’s trip to Bolton who are fourth.

And while Saunders has one eye on the longer term and hopefully a more successful season next time around, his main focus remains on trying to help Wolves climb out of the bottom three and secure their npower Championship status.

Equally he is well aware that many clubs at the bottom of the table are also mounting decent runs, so much more work is required.

“No one likes being in this situation,” said the boss.

“But it’s football and we’re involved in it and it’s better than sitting in the back garden doing nothing!

“There are ups and downs and yesterday was one of the ups and I think the match alone was certainly worth the ticket price.

“I have been brought here to try and get the team promoted next season.

“I want us to get safe and then we can think about next season but there is still a long way to go.

“We are a big club and it would be a disaster if we got relegated.

“I don’t know what it is going to take to stay up because everyone is beating each other.

“At the other end it is probably going to be one of the lowest tallies to get into the play-offs.

“We have just got to keep winning.”

Saunders believes the recent run is a sign of a gradual improvement as his approach and methods start to pay dividends, coming off the back of a period of managerial change at Molineux.

He has also pinpointed the character and spirit within the team as something which will be crucial over the remaining seven games.

“The players have got the bit between their teeth now and are showing their character,” he said.

“Instead of just lying down and looking for people to blame they have rallied together and the spirit is good in the camp.

“The team has been broken apart a bit in the last couple of years with different managers.

“Players have come in and been mixed together with players who had been relegated and maybe that hasn’t quite worked.

“I have just tried to mould a team and create an environment where we all sing off the same hymn sheet.

“I am trying to create an environment where they all know the type of player I like and the type of player I don’t like.

“They know that if they do certain things they will play and if they don’t then they won’t.

“That is how you create a team spirit.

“You can’t keep everyone happy but at least they know why they are playing and why they are not.”

And the benefits of the work on the training ground is also filtering through with Kevin Doyle’s winning goal yesterday, following Roger Johnson’s flick-on, the culmination of pre-match preparation.

“It was a long throw which we’ve worked on,” said Saunders.

“We must have worked on that hundreds of times and I’ve probably bored the players with it.

“We got a goal from Sako against Watford and have got the winner yesterday.

“Kevin did well and there were a lot of really good performances in the game.

“A lot of goals come from that area inside the six yard box and that was where the own goal came from as well.

“And Bjorn took his goal brilliantly and he was in the six yard box by the time he finished it.